Tuesday Bowl Games

Hey Guys -

A little late night update from me on today's games and what's coming tomorrow.

RUT-NCST
God damn 1/2 pt! RUT dominates the 2nd half, but tries the FG instead of plunging it in on that final drive!! AHHH!! 4th Bowl Game to be decided by 1 pt. or less against the spread already. I wish NCST would have stuck with QB#2 for a little longer, he was maybe the worst QB I've ever seen...ever.

NW-MIZZOU
This game just started the 2nd half, and it looks to be turning out how I had feared. The NW defense is slowing down MIZZOU and their offense looks surprisingly good tonight. I forgot that Bacher makes a big difference. I'm not conceding yet, but I'm not liking my Tigers by 14 right now.

Nice, they just showed a great did you know...Mike Kafka hold the record for Qb Rushing yards in one game with 217 vs. MIN on 11/1? Really? Must have missed that game. Why is it that every time I watch a game I have to hear a reference to a very painful memory from Minnesota's past (Gophers, Vikes, Wolves, etc).

And a NW TD. Looks like 0-2 for me tonight.

Tomrrow we have 3 more games on tap:

NEV-MARY
JR and MK have NEV, MR and JG have MARY. Did you know the Nevada offense is #5 in the nation? 291 rushing yds/gm...wow. Their run defense is #3 at 74.5 ypg. hmmm. They are 8th in the nation in sacks, and 23 in sacks allowed. This sounds like a good team. Maryland is nothing special, -8 turnover margin is probably their most telling stat. They played well, but shot themselves in the foot too many times. I think the pack play inspired ball in front of maybe 12,000 people on a Tuesday afternoon in Boise. NEVADA WINS 30-21 (but if the Humanitarian Bowl is played but nobody is watching does it really count?)

WMU-RICE
We all like Rice, so far when we all like a team we are 1-1. Rice is a classic all offense no defense team ranking 10th in offense and 114th in defense. They were also +13 in turnovers. WMU throws for over 300 ypg, but they can't run or stop the pass. This could be a crazy one...RICE WINS 55-47.

Finally, the nightcap...

ORE-OKST
I struggled with this game a lot, because these teams are identical. JR and MK ended up picking ORE, while JG and MR took OKST. ORE has a great running game, as does OKST. I think OKST has a slightly better passing attack, but they are the #7 and #8 offenses overall in the country. Both play good run defense and horrible pass defense, too. Turnover margin is also equal at +5 for both. The one glaring difference is that ORE has a pass rush (#6 in nation) and OKST does not (#108). I think the running games cancel each other out, and it comes down to who can throw it better, so I like the ORE pass rush to be the difference maker and ORE winning 42-38.

Should be tons of points on Tuesday - 2 under the radar games, and one really good low tier bowl game.

Enjoy.